This dissertation examines the properties of star formation in the nearest large Milky Way- like galaxy, the Andromeda Galaxy (M31). Using resolved star data from the Hubble Space Telescope obtained as part of the Panchromatic Hubble Andromeda Treasury (PHAT), I model the optical color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) of > 9000 ...

Upcoming time-domain imaging surveys such as the LSST will detect over a million high-redshift z > 4 quasars, making complete spectroscopic followup unfeasible. Statistical estimates such as luminosity functions and clustering measurements will require purely photometric methods for classifying quasars, estimating redshifts ...

In the coming years and decades, we will obtain our first opportunity to spectrally characterize potentially habitable worlds outside our solar system. These planets will be at the right distance from their host star and possess the correct range of atmospheric compositions to have surfaces conducive to maintaining liquid ...

This work revolutionizes the study of star clusters in the Local Group galaxy Andromeda (Messier 31) using high spatial resolution, multi-wavelength imaging from the Hubble Space Telescope obtained as part of the Panchromatic Hubble Andromeda Treasury (PHAT) survey. I construct a cluster catalog using visual identification ...

Transit transmission spectroscopy may provide the first glimpse at the atmosphere of an Earth-like exoplanet, and therefore the first chance to detect habitability markers and biosignatures, or signs of life. Within the next 10-15 years, the James Webb Space Telescope and large-aperture ground-based telescopes like the European ...

X-ray binaries, especially those with a massive stellar companion, provide a unique probe through which one can study the end-points of high-mass stellar evolution while simultaneously tracing recent star formation. In this thesis, I analyze the high-mass X-ray binary populations of five nearby galaxies using matched observations ...

Resolved stellar populations in galaxies are excellent laboratories for testing our understanding of galaxy formation, integrated colors and luminosities, supernova progenitor masses, and energy input from stellar feedback. However, the usefulness of resolved stellar populations rests on the ability to accurately model the ...

The primary focus of my thesis work is to study star formation using a series of high resolution cosmological N-body Simulations. Specifically, I have studied the total stellar-to-halo mass ratio as a function of halo mass for a new sample of simulated field galaxies using fully cosmological, LCDM, high resolution SPH + N-Body ...

The search for life in the Universe outside of the Solar System focuses on the study of potentially habitable exoplanets. Exoplanets have been discovered principally via the transit method, which reveals planetary radii and orbital periods, among other things. In transiting multi-planet systems, we can measure the masses of ...